JP6445693B2 - Mixed mode medium access control (MAC) over shared communication media - Google Patents

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This patent application is assigned to the assignee of the present application, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, and is incorporated herein by reference. US Provisional Application No. 62 / 073,749 entitled `` Access Control (MAC) in Unlicensed Spectrum '', United States named `` Mixed-Mode Medium Access Control (MAC) in Unlicensed Spectrum '' filed on November 14, 2014 The benefits of provisional application number 62 / 080,170 and US provisional application number 62 / 183,625 named `` Mixed-Mode Medium Access Control (MAC) in Shared Spectrum '' filed June 23, 2015. Insist.

  Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to telecommunications, and more particularly to coexistence on shared communication media and the like.

  Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, data, multimedia, and so on. A typical wireless communication system is a multiple access system that can support communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (eg, bandwidth, transmit power, etc.). Examples of such multiple access systems include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, and the like. These systems include Long Term Evolution (LTE) provided by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) and Evolution Data Optimized (EV-) provided by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2). It is often deployed in conformity with standards such as DO) and 802.11 provided by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

  Across a cellular network, a “macrocell” access point provides connectivity and coverage for a large number of users across a geographic area. Macro network deployments are carefully planned, designed and implemented to provide good coverage across that geographic area. To improve indoor coverage or other specific geographic coverage, such as residential and office buildings, recently, additional “small cells”, which are usually low-power access points, have been replaced by traditional macro networks. Has begun to be expanded to complement. Small cell access points can also provide additional capacity, a richer user experience, and the like.

  Small cell LTE operation has been extended to the unlicensed frequency spectrum, such as the Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) band used by wireless local area network (WLAN) technology, for example. This extension of small cell LTE operation is designed to improve the spectral efficiency and thus capacity of LTE systems. However, this may also affect the operation of other radio access technologies (RATs) that typically utilize the same unlicensed band, especially the IEEE 802.11x WLAN technology commonly referred to as “Wi-Fi”.

  The following summary is presented only to assist in describing various aspects of the disclosure and is provided only for illustration of each aspect and is not intended to limit each aspect.

  In one example, a communication method is disclosed. This method may be used, for example, according to a discontinuous transmission (DTX) communication pattern on a communication medium shared with a second radio access technology (RAT) between a first RAT and an inactive period of transmission. Cycling the operation, selecting an identifier for association with the first RAT, and reserving the communication medium for one of the active periods, via the communication medium, the second RAT Transmitting a channel reservation message associated with the channel reservation message, the channel reservation message including an identifier.

  In another example, a communication device is disclosed. The apparatus can include, for example, at least one processor, at least one memory coupled to the at least one processor, and a transceiver. At least one processor and at least one memory cycle the operation of the first RAT between active and inactive periods of transmission on a communication medium shared with the second RAT according to the DTX communication pattern; It may be configured to select an identifier for association to the first RAT. The transceiver may be configured to transmit a channel reservation message associated with the second RAT over the communication medium to reserve the communication medium for one of the active periods, the channel reservation message including an identifier. Including.

  In another example, another communication device is disclosed. The apparatus includes, for example, means for cycling the operation of the first RAT between active and inactive periods of transmission on a communication medium shared with the second RAT according to the DTX communication pattern; Means for selecting an identifier for association to one RAT and a channel reservation message associated with the second RAT via the communication medium to reserve the communication medium for one of the active periods And the channel reservation message includes an identifier.

  In another example, a temporary or non-transitory computer readable medium is disclosed. The computer-readable medium includes, for example, according to a discontinuous transmission (DTX) communication pattern, on a communication medium shared with a second radio access technology (RAT) between a first active period and an inactive period. A code for cycling the RAT operation, a code for selecting an identifier for association with the first RAT, and a communication medium to reserve the communication medium for one of the active periods. And a code for transmitting a channel reservation message associated with the second RAT, wherein the channel reservation message includes an identifier.

  The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in the description of various aspects of the disclosure and are provided for illustration of each aspect only and are not intended to limit each aspect.

1 illustrates an example wireless communication system that includes an access point in communication with an access terminal. FIG. 2 is a system level diagram illustrating contention between radio access technologies (RAT) on a shared communication medium. 2 illustrates certain aspects of an exemplary discontinuous transmission (DTX) communication scheme. An example of inter-RAT coordination using channel reservation messages is shown. Fig. 4 illustrates an exemplary channel reservation message for inter-RAT coordination. FIG. 6 is a timing diagram illustrating an exemplary channel reservation message transmission scheme. FIG. 6 is a timing diagram illustrating another exemplary channel reservation message transmission scheme. FIG. 6 illustrates further aspects of DTX communication coordination related to access terminal activation and deactivation. FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method of communication in accordance with the techniques described herein. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating another exemplary method of communication in accordance with the techniques described herein. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating another exemplary method of communication in accordance with the techniques described herein. Fig. 3 illustrates an exemplary device represented as a series of interrelated functional modules. Fig. 4 illustrates another exemplary apparatus represented as a series of interrelated functional modules. Fig. 4 illustrates another exemplary apparatus represented as a series of interrelated functional modules.

  The present disclosure relates generally to mixed mode medium access control (MAC) for discontinuous transmission (DTX) over shared communication media. An access point that implements a DTX communication pattern on one radio access technology (RAT) (e.g. LTE) is defined to reserve a communication medium so that another RAT (e.g. Wi-Fi) has no inter-RAT interference Although it may be configured to send a channel reservation message, it may also be configured to include an identifier associated with the first RAT in the channel reservation message to improve intra-RAT coordination and resource reuse. The DTX communication pattern may be fixed or floating. For a fixed DTX communication pattern, contention for access to the communication medium may be implemented according to a fixed adaptive guard period. In the case of a floating DTX communication pattern, contention for access to the communication medium may be performed according to a dynamically variable contention period following a preceding inactivity period.

  More specific aspects of the present disclosure are provided in the following description and related drawings of various examples provided for illustration. Alternate embodiments may be devised without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In addition, well-known aspects of the disclosure may not be described in detail or may be omitted so as not to obscure further relevant details.

  Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the information and signals described below may be represented using any of a wide variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the following description are partially specific applications, partially desired designs, partially corresponding technologies, etc. Depending on voltage, current, electromagnetic wave, magnetic field or magnetic particle, light field or light particle, or any combination thereof.

  Moreover, many aspects are described in terms of a series of actions to be performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. The various actions described herein are performed by particular circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuits (ASICs)), by program instructions executed by one or more processors, or a combination of both. It will be recognized that you get. Further, for each of the aspects described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspect may be implemented, for example, as "logic configured to" perform the operations described.

  FIG. 1 shows an exemplary wireless communication system including an access point in communication with an access terminal. Unless otherwise stated, the terms “access terminal” and “access point” are not intended to be specific or limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT). In general, an access terminal is any wireless communication device that allows users to communicate over a communication network (e.g., mobile phone, router, personal computer, server, entertainment device, Internet of Things (IOT) / Internet of Things. (IOE) devices, in-vehicle communication devices, etc.), and in various RAT environments, alternatively called user devices (UD), mobile stations (MS), subscriber stations (STA), user equipment (UE), etc. Sometimes. Similarly, an access point can operate according to one or several RATs that are in communication with the access terminal, depending on the network in which the access point is deployed, base station (BS), network node, NodeB, It may be called alternatively as evolved NodeB (eNB). Such an access point may correspond to, for example, a small cell access point. A “small cell” generally includes a femto cell, pico cell, micro cell, wireless local area network (WLAN) access point, other small coverage area access point, etc., or a low power that may otherwise be referred to Refers to the classification of access points. Small cells may be deployed to complement macrocell coverage, covering a few blocks in the neighborhood or a few square miles in a rural environment, thereby improving signaling, increasing capacity, a richer user experience, etc. Can be realized.

  In the example of FIG. 1, access point 110 and access terminal 120 each typically communicate wirelessly (represented by communication devices 112 and 122) for communicating with other network nodes via at least one designated RAT. Includes devices. The communication devices 112 and 122 transmit and encode signals (e.g., messages, instructions, information, etc.) according to the specified RAT, and vice versa. Can be variously configured to receive and decode. Access point 110 and access terminal 120 also each typically control (e.g. direct, change, enable, disable, etc.) the operation of their respective communication devices 112 and 122. Communication controllers (represented by controllers 114 and 124) can be included. Communication controllers 114 and 124 are on-board coupled to respective host system functions (processing systems 116 and 126, and processing systems 116 and 126, respectively, and configured to store data, instructions, or combinations thereof. May operate in response to or otherwise operate with memory components 118 and 128 as cache memory, separate components, combinations thereof, and the like. In some designs, communication controllers 114 and 124 may be partially or fully encompassed by the respective host system functionality.

  Looking more closely at the illustrated communication, the access terminal 120 can send and receive messages to and from the access point 110 via the wireless link 130, where the messages can be information about various types of communication (e.g., voice, Data, multimedia services, related control signaling, etc.). The wireless link 130 may operate as part of a cell including a primary cell (PCell) and a secondary cell (SCell) on each component carrier (each frequency). The wireless link 130 can operate over other communication media as well as other RATs, including component carriers shown by way of example as the communication medium 132 in FIG. This type of medium is associated with communication between one or more transmitter / receiver pairs, such as access point 110 and access terminal 120 in the case of communication medium 132 (e.g., one over one or more carriers). It may consist of one or more frequency, time and / or spatial communication resources (covering one or more channels).

  As an example, the communication medium 132 may correspond to at least a portion of an unlicensed frequency band shared with other RATs. In general, access point 110 and access terminal 120 may operate over wireless link 130 according to one or more RATs depending on the network in which they are deployed. These networks include, for example, code division multiple access (CDMA) networks, time division multiple access (TDMA) networks, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) networks, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) networks, and single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA). Various variations such as a network can be included. Various licensed frequency bands are reserved for such communications (e.g. by government agencies such as the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC)), but some communications networks, especially small cell access points Communication networks that employ VoIP will operate into unlicensed frequency bands such as the Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) band used by WLAN technology, especially IEEE 802.11x WLAN technology commonly referred to as `` Wi-Fi ''. It is extended.

  FIG. 2 is a system level diagram illustrating contention between RATs on a shared communication medium such as communication medium 132. In this example, communication medium 132 is used for communication between access point 110 and access terminal 120 (representing at least a portion of primary RAT system 200) and is shared with competing RAT system 202. The competing RAT system 202 may also include one or more competing nodes 204 that communicate with each other over their respective wireless links 230 over the communication medium 132. As an example, access point 110 and access terminal 120 may communicate over wireless link 130 according to long term evolution (LTE) technology, whereas competing RAT system 202 may communicate over wireless link 230 according to Wi-Fi technology. Can communicate.

  As shown, there may be cross-link interference between the wireless link 130 and the wireless link 230 due to the sharing of the communication medium 132. Further, some RATs and some jurisdictions may require contention or “listen before talk (LBT)” for access to the communication medium 132. As an example, the Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 protocol family of standards has other traffic on the shared medium before each Wi-Fi device occupies (and possibly reserves) the medium for its own transmission. It provides a carrier sense multiple access / collision avoidance (CSMA / CA) protocol to verify that it does not. As another example, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) mandates contention for all devices, regardless of the RAT on specific communication media such as unlicensed frequency bands.

  As described in more detail below, access point 110 and / or access terminal 120 may mitigate interference with competing RAT system 202 in different ways.

  Returning to the example of FIG. 1, the communication device 112 of the access point 110 includes a primary RAT transceiver 140 configured to operate according to a certain RAT to communicate primarily with the access terminal 120, and a competing RAT system. Two colocates that operate according to each RAT, including a secondary RAT transceiver 142 that is configured to operate according to another RAT to primarily interact with other RATs that share the communication medium 132, such as 202 Including a transceiver. As used herein, a “transceiver” can include a transmitter circuit, a receiver circuit, or a combination thereof, but need not provide both transmit and receive functions in all designs. . For example, in some designs, low performance receiver circuits may be employed to reduce costs when it is not necessary to achieve full communication (e.g., Wi-Fi chip or just low level sniffing). Provide similar circuit). Further, as used herein, the term “collocated” (eg, wireless device, access point, transceiver, etc.) may refer to one of a variety of configurations. For example, components within the same enclosure, components hosted by the same processor, components within a defined distance from each other, and / or any required inter-component communication (e.g., messaging) A component connected via an interface (eg, an Ethernet switch) that meets latency requirements.

  Primary RAT transceiver 140 and secondary RAT transceiver 142 may thus provide different functions and may be used for different purposes. Returning to the LTE and Wi-Fi example above, the primary RAT transceiver 140 can operate in accordance with LTE technology to provide communication with the access terminal 120 over the wireless link 130, and the secondary RAT transceiver 142 May operate according to Wi-Fi technology to monitor or control Wi-Fi signaling on communication medium 132 that may interfere with or be interfered with by LTE communication. The secondary RAT transceiver 142 may or may not act as a full Wi-Fi access point that provides communication services to the associated basic service set (BSS). The communication device 122 of the access terminal 120 includes similar primary RAT transceiver and / or secondary RAT transceiver functionality, as shown in FIG. 1 as the primary RAT transceiver 150 and the secondary RAT transceiver 152 in some designs. However, such a dual transceiver function may not be necessary.

  FIG. 3 shows certain aspects of an exemplary discontinuous transmission (DTX) communication scheme that may be implemented by primary RAT system 200 on communication medium 132. The DTX communication scheme may be used to facilitate time division based coexistence with the competing RAT system 202. As shown, the use of communication medium 132 for primary RAT communication may be divided into a series of active periods 304 and inactive periods 306 of communication. The relationship between the active period 304 and the inactive period 306 can be adapted in various ways to promote fairness between the primary RAT system 200 and the competing RAT system 202.

A given active period 304 / inactive period 306 pair may constitute a transmit (TX) cycle (T _DTX ) 308 that collectively form the communication pattern 300. During the time period T _ON associated with each active period 304, primary RAT communication on the communication medium 132 may proceed with a normal relatively high transmit power (TX _HIGH ). However, during the time period T _OFF associated with each inactive period 306, the primary RAT communication on the communication medium 132 may be disabled or transferred to the competing RAT system 202 to yield the communication medium 132 It can be at least sufficiently reduced to a low transmit power (TX _LOW ). During this time, various network listening functions and associated measurements, such as medium utilization measurements, medium utilization evaluation detection, etc., may be performed by access point 110 and / or access terminal 120.

A DTX communication scheme may be characterized by a set of one or more DTX parameters. For example, duration duration (e.g., length of T _DTX ), duty cycle (e.g., T _ON / T _DTX ) and respective transmit power during active period 304 and inactive period 306 (TX _HIGH and TX _LOW respectively) Can be adapted based on current signaling conditions on the communication medium 132 to dynamically optimize the fairness of the DTX communication scheme.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the secondary RAT transceiver 142 may interfere with the primary RAT signaling via the communication medium 132 or time for secondary RAT signaling, such as signaling from a competing RAT system 202. It may be configured to monitor the communication medium 132 during the period T _OFF . Secondary RAT signaling may then determine a usage metric associated with the usage rate of the communication medium 132. Based on the usage metric, one or more of the relevant parameters described above may be set, and the primary RAT transceiver 140 may communicate with the communication active period 304 and communication non-communication via the communication medium 132 accordingly. It can be configured to cycle between active periods 306.

  As an example, if the utilization metric is high (e.g., above a threshold), one or more of the parameters may indicate that the use of medium 132 by the primary RAT transceiver 140 (e.g., reduce duty cycle or transmit power). Can be adjusted to be reduced. Conversely, if the utilization metric is low (e.g., below a threshold), one or more of the parameters may indicate that the use of medium 132 by the primary RAT transceiver 140 (e.g., increase duty cycle or transmit power). Can be adjusted to be increased.

  To improve synchronization with the competing RAT system 202, coordination signaling may be sent over the communication medium 132 to facilitate the DTX communication scheme. For example, access point 110 (or another device that implements DTX) is defined for secondary RAT, such as a neighbor access point (e.g., Wi-Fi AP), a neighbor access terminal (e.g., Wi-Fi STA), etc. Send a reserved channel reservation message to reserve the communication medium 132 for primary RAT operation, and a secondary RAT device, such as a competing node 204 of the competing RAT system 202, may receive one or more of the active periods 304 Transmission in the middle can be prevented. For example, to reduce the impact of this additional secondary RAT signaling on neighboring primary RAT devices that can monitor the media utilization of the secondary RAT, as well as for so-called primary RAT operation In order to improve the resource “reuse” (eg, to facilitate “reuse 1” between devices of the same operator), the channel reservation message is distinguished from the native secondary RAT signaled from the competing RAT system 202 Special identifiers may be provided.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of inter-RAT adjustment using a channel reservation message. Similar to FIG. 3, primary RAT transmission is enabled on communication medium 132 during communication active period 304. During the inactive period 306, the primary RAT transmission on the communication medium 132 is disabled to enable operation of the secondary RAT and to perform measurements.

  As shown, secondary RAT transceiver 142 may be used to transmit channel reservation message 410 over communication medium 132 to reserve for transmission by primary RAT transceiver 140 or other primary RAT device. Exemplary channel reservation messages include, for example, ready to send (CTS2S) message, request to send (RTS) message, ready to send (CTS) message, physical layer convergence protocol (PLCP) header (e.g., legacy signal (L -SIG), high-throughput signal (HT-SIG), or very high-throughput signal (VHT-SIG)) and similar for secondary Wi-Fi RAT, or for other secondary RATs of interest Other similar messages defined may be included.

  A channel reservation message 410 may be sent at the start of or in anticipation of the next active period 304 to reserve the communication medium 132 from the perspective of the secondary RAT during that active period 304. Where appropriate, channel reservation message 410 may include a duration indication or the like corresponding to the duration of the next active period 304 (eg, a network allocation vector (NAV)). The transmit power of the channel reservation message 410 may also be adapted to control its range (and thus the number of affected devices) as needed. Transmission of channel reservation message 410 may also be affected by the nature (eg, type) of the secondary RAT operating channel that overlaps with communication medium 132. For example, the channel reservation message 410 may not be transmitted if the communication medium 132 corresponds to a secondary channel for a neighboring Wi-Fi device. This is because a Wi-Fi STA is not required to set NAV for 20 MHz frames transmitted on the secondary channel in certain versions of the IEEE 802.11 protocol family. By utilizing the channel reservation mechanism built into the secondary RAT itself, other less sensitive channel sensing mechanisms (tuned for inter-RAT traffic) for primary RAT communication during the active period 304 ( For example, relying on a low-latency Wi-Fi clear channel assessment (CCA) energy detection (ED) mechanism that can be used by the competing RAT system 202 to assess the state of the communication medium 132 before attempting transmissions Better protection can be ensured.

  In addition, the channel reservation message 410 may include an identifier associated with the primary RAT to alert other devices operating according to the primary RAT about the nature of the channel reservation message 410. Exemplary identifiers may include special purpose identifiers or existing reuse identifiers selected to convey primary RAT operations. By utilizing such an identifier in conjunction with a channel reservation mechanism, the Wi-Fi MAC procedure can be used without one interfering with the other (e.g., based on what can be mistakenly determined as Wi-Fi medium usage). A “mixed mode” medium access control (MAC) scheme that utilizes the MAC procedure provided by both RATs (without limiting the medium access to the LTE MAC procedure) may be employed.

  FIG. 5 shows an exemplary channel reservation message for inter-RAT coordination. In this example, the channel reservation message 410 includes a RAT identifier field 410a, a duration field 410b, and possibly other parameters 410c as needed for a given implementation. As explained above, the duration field 410b may be set to indicate the duration of the next active period 304. Other parameters 410c may include fields related to receiver / transmitter addressing, error correction, and the like. For example, other parameters 410c may include a frame control field, a receiver address field, and a frame check sequence field for a CTS or CTS2S channel reservation message.

  The RAT identifier field 410a may be used in various manners, including all or part of a header portion (e.g., MAC header or PHY header), all or part of a standalone information element (IE), etc. Can be implemented in various parts. In some designs, the RAT identifier field 410a may be a special purpose identifier added to the channel reservation message 410 and used exclusively for RAT identification. In other designs, the RAT identifier field 410a may be carved from a set of bits that have not been previously used or reserved. In yet other designs, the RAT identifier field 410a may correspond to an existing identifier that is reused as a predetermined value.

  As an example, a specific value for a network identifier, such as a basic service set identifier (BSSID), may be relevant to the operation of the corresponding RAT other than the native secondary RAT for which the signaling protocol is used to transmit the channel reservation message 410. And may be used as a RAT identifier to indicate that the channel reservation message 410 is being transmitted. As another example, a specific value for the receiver address (RA) is (for example, in the RA field of a Wi-Fi CTS frame traditionally used to define the MAC ID of the network interface card (NIC)). Can be used as a RAT identifier.

  As another example, a specific range of duration values may be used as the RAT identifier. In some designs, the range may be distinguished by a threshold that is an exception to native second order RAT operation. For example, typical duration values indicated by Wi-Fi CTS packets are limited by typical Wi-Fi packet lengths (eg, 5.484 ms or less, maximum transmission opportunity (TxOP) length) . Thus, a detected duration value that exceeds the corresponding duration threshold (e.g., greater than 15ms) is that the channel reservation message 410 is being transmitted in connection with a corresponding RAT operation other than Wi-Fi. Can be understood.

  As another example, a specific value of scrambled in the PHY header may be used as the RAT identifier. The service field of the Wi-Fi PLCP header is, for example, a scrambler originally intended to be used to set the initial state of the descrambler at a receiver that can be reused to serve instead as a RAT identifier. Contains initialization bits. As another example, a specific value for the user identifier in the PHY header may be used as that identifier. For example, the Partial Association Identifier (PAID) field (in the VHT-SIG-A area) of the Wi-Fi PLCP header, which is originally intended to provide the Wi-Fi STA with an indication of whether the packet is intended for the STA. Instead, it can be reused to serve as a RAT identifier, at least for secondary RAT devices capable of understanding such headers.

  The use of PHY header fields such as scrambled or user identifiers may provide advantages over other fields that require further processing to decode, including MAC header fields such as BSSID. For example, decoding and identifying the source of a channel reservation message (primary RAT or secondary RAT device) by simply examining the PLCP header without having to decode the entire packet, perform error checking, and read the BSSID field This can be advantageous from the viewpoint of latency. It also looks like a random secondary RAT device with a different BSSID for each channel reservation (for example, to prevent secondary RAT devices from identifying and invalidating channel reservations from the primary RAT device) As well as deferring the use of the BSSID field for communicating other information between the primary RAT devices.

  Returning to the example design of FIG. 5, based on the RAT identifier (eg, RAT identifier field 410a) that associates the channel reservation message 410 with the primary RAT operation, the other primary RAT devices are based on secondary RAT signaling. The channel reservation message 410 may be excluded from any related MAC operation. For example, an LTE device that receives a Wi-Fi CTS2S message that associates the selected RA with LTE operation may exclude this CTS2S message from the calculation of Wi-Fi medium utilization for the purpose of setting DTX parameters. In this way, these calculations can be prevented from being disturbed by secondary RAT coordination signaling that does not truly reflect secondary RAT operation. In addition, LTE devices that receive Wi-Fi CTS2S messages that associate selected RAs with LTE operations exclude the process of setting their network allocation vector (NAV) based on this CTS2S message (and thereby Instead, it may continue to contend for access to the communication medium 132 over its own active period 304 (eg, by sending its own channel reservation message 410). In contrast, devices that are unaware of this RAT identifier will set their NAV normally and postpone access to the communication medium 132 until the channel reservation expires. This allows mixed mode MAC schemes to operate more harmoniously and more efficiently while maintaining their respective benefits (for example, dense resource utilization provided by LTE and DTX media sharing based on Wi-Fi signaling). It becomes possible to do.

  RAT identifiers can be coordinated between neighboring devices in various ways. For example, the RAT identifier may be set by a given operator and provided via backhaul signaling, such as in the form of Operation & Maintenance (O & M) parameters in the access point 110 configuration file. As another example, the RAT identifier may be calculated (eg, as a hash function) based on a common network identifier, such as an operator ID (eg, Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) ID).

  Returning again to FIG. 4, for the sake of illustration, the channel reservation is shown as starting at the DTX cycle boundary, but prior to the target active period 304 to ensure that the channel reservation is successful. It may be desirable to send the channel reservation message 410 early. As the communication medium 132 is reserved earlier, one of the competing nodes 204 of the competing RAT system 202 may have already reserved the communication medium 132 for itself during the target active period 304. Lower. At the same time, however, at least for channel reservation messages that take effect immediately (e.g., CTS2S) and do not result in future reservation start times, the early reservation unduly interferes with the communication medium 132 and the access point 110 May also prevent the competing RAT system 202 from utilizing the communication medium 132 when not transmitting primary RAT signaling (eg, during a portion of the inactive period 306 leading to the target active period 304).

  FIG. 6 is a timing diagram illustrating an exemplary channel reservation message transmission scheme. Similar to FIG. 3, primary RAT transmission is enabled on communication medium 132 during communication active period 304. During the inactive period 306, the primary RAT transmission on the communication medium 132 is disabled to allow secondary RAT operations and to perform measurements.

In this example, channel reservation message 410 is transmitted during a guard period (T _G ) 608 within inactive period 306 preceding target active period 304. The guard period 608 may be established as a medium contention period during which the access point 110 may contend for access to the communication medium 132 over a time period that includes the target active period 304. The channel reservation message 410 may be sent at any suitable time during the guard period 608. For example, the channel reservation message 410 may be sent immediately after the start of the guard period 608. If the reservation fails because the communication medium 132 is occupied by secondary RAT signaling at the beginning of the guard period 608, the channel reservation message 410 may be retransmitted after the communication medium 132 becomes free.

  In some designs, the communication medium 132 will be occupied by secondary RAT signaling at the beginning of the guard period 608, and the channel reservation message 410 may be held for transmission until the communication medium 132 becomes free Can be determined in advance. For example, the access point 110 may monitor the communication medium 132 for traffic spanning the guard period 608 during all or part of the preceding inactive period 306 up to the guard period 608. In this way, media contention can be effectively extended so that the access point 110 knows whether the communication medium 132 is free or busy before sending the first channel reservation message 410.

  The duration indication included in the channel reservation message 410 (CTS2S message duration field) may be set based on the remainder of the guard period 608 and the length of the next active period 304 at the time of transmission. As shown in more detail in FIG. 6, this reservation is made by one or more of the competing nodes 204 of the competing RAT system 202 at that time (for example, by setting their NAV based on the CTS2S duration field). May be urged to refrain from attempting to access the communication medium 132 during this period.

  The guard period 608 may be set statically, or a trade-off between the probability of a successful reservation and additional overhead time that prevents the competing RAT system 202 from utilizing the communication medium 132. As may be adapted dynamically. For example, the guard period 608 may be adapted based on reservation success rate statistics, historical packet characteristics related to secondary RAT traffic, advertisement packet characteristics related to secondary RAT traffic, and the like.

  As an example, the access point 110 may monitor its CTS 2S success statistics (eg, via the secondary RAT transceiver 142) and the guard period 608 may be adapted to meet a target success rate threshold. If the monitored success rate is below the target success rate threshold, the guard period 608 may be extended so that the target success rate threshold is met. If the monitored success rate exceeds the target success rate threshold, the guard period 608 prevents the competing RAT system 202 from utilizing the communication medium 132 while still reliably meeting the target success rate threshold. It can be shortened to reduce additional overhead time. The target success rate threshold itself may be set based on the desired level of protection provided to the competing RAT system 202.

  As another example, the access point 110 may monitor the TxOP size of the secondary RAT traffic (e.g., via the secondary RAT transceiver 142) and the guard period 608 may include this TxOP size or its statistic (e.g., average TxOP size, upper quartile of TxOP size, etc.). The TxOP size can be monitored from beacon signal advertisements as well as observation traffic. By mapping the guard period 608 to encompass the secondary RAT TxOP size, the access point 110 may more reliably ensure that there is a channel reservation opportunity at some point within the guard period 608.

  Returning to FIG. 6, the use of the guard period 608 may introduce additional processing overhead in the inactive period 306. For example, CTS2S is always sent on the primary Wi-Fi channel, but this primary Wi-Fi channel is different from the channel shared on communication medium 132 (e.g. LTE is Wi-Fi (If using the Fi secondary channel) it may be subject to cross-link interference. The overhead of retuning the secondary RAT transceiver 142 (e.g., Wi-Fi radio firmware) from listening on one channel for medium utilization measurement and the other channel for CTS2S exchange during contention is therefore , And can be quantified and captured as part of the inactive period 306 calculation.

  In some designs, it may be advantageous for the start of each active period 304 to be floating rather than fixed. This may help promote coexistence, for example, by better adapting to the completion of secondary RAT traffic associated with competing RAT system 202. The channel reservation message 410 over the next active period 304 can thus be sent at a later time following the preceding inactive period 306 rather than following a fixed time, such as the fixed time defined by the guard period 608.

  FIG. 7 is a timing diagram illustrating another exemplary channel reservation message transmission scheme. Again, as in FIGS. 3 and 6, primary RAT transmission is enabled on the communication medium 132 during the communication active period 304. During the inactive period 306, the primary RAT transmission on the communication medium 132 is disabled to allow secondary RAT operations and to perform measurements.

In this example, rather than limiting contention to a fixed (long term) adaptable time, as in the guard period 608, the access point 110 may change before starting the next active period 304. Access to the communication medium 132 may be contending over a long contention period (T _C ) 708. When appropriate (eg, in response to a trigger condition), the access point 110 may send a channel reservation message 410 at the end of the contention period 708 to protect the next active period 304.

  The contention process may consider both primary RAT signaling (eg, LBT energy detection, etc.) and secondary RAT signaling (eg, channel reservation). For example, the access point 110 may use (e.g., a primary RAT transceiver 140 to signal energy (e.g., received signal indicator (RSSI)) with respect to a backoff threshold (e.g., LBT or CCA-ED threshold). The communication medium 132 may be monitored during the contention period 708 (and / or via the secondary RAT transceiver 142). On the other hand, the access point 110 is also for secondary RAT signaling that may be decoded to look for channel reservations by the competing RAT system 202 or by other primary RAT devices (e.g., other operator devices) where the reservations are respected. In addition, the communication medium 132 may be monitored during the contention period 708 (eg, via the secondary RAT transceiver 142). If the signaling energy falls below the backoff threshold and no channel reservation is detected, the next active period 204 may be initiated. In other cases, the next active period 204 may be delayed (eg, over a backoff period after which the contention procedure is repeated).

In some situations, channel reservation message 410 may be omitted to limit potential interference to communication medium 132. In other situations, such as when the trigger condition is met, however, the channel reservation message 410 may be sent at the end of the contention period 708 to protect the next active period 304. Trigger conditions can be set in different ways to protect different classes of transmissions. For example, the trigger condition may take into account insufficient primary RAT performance, impact on secondary RAT performance, hidden secondary RAT nodes, and so on. Primary RAT performance may be characterized, for example, by downlink block error rate (BLER) and channel quality indicator (CQI) feedback from access terminal 120 or other access terminals. The impact on second-order RAT performance is, for example, signal-to-noise on the second-order RAT downlink (DL), such as (for example, SNR _DL / (αSINR _DL + (1-α) SNR _DL , α is a weighting parameter) May be characterized by evaluating the impact of channel reservation message 410 on competing RAT system 202 (as a function of ratio (SNR) and signal-to-interference + noise ratio). A hidden secondary RAT node may be detected, for example, by searching for a transmitter / receiver pair using a payload (eg, data pair acknowledgment (ACK)) and classifying observed traffic by frame type.

  FIG. 8 shows further aspects of DTX communication coordination related to activation and deactivation of access terminals. Similar to FIG. 3, primary RAT transmission is enabled on communication medium 132 during communication active period 304. During the inactive period 306, the primary RAT transmission on the communication medium 132 is disabled to allow secondary RAT operations and to perform measurements.

  As shown, in some designs, the MAC control element (CE) activation command for the access terminal 120 over a given active period 304 is a few milliseconds (e.g., 1 to Can be transmitted early according to activation margins, such as 3 ms). This can help to provide a buffer for the processing delay required for access terminal 120 to decode the MAC CE. The activation margin may be fixed for all access terminals or may be adaptive for each individual access terminal.

  In addition, however, the access terminal 120 may need to perform one or more ramp-up procedures to become ready at or near the start time over the active period 304. The ramp-up procedure can be used to set up automatic gain control (AGC), firmware, etc. that may need to be adjusted based on operating system or environmental changes during the preceding inactive period 306.

  In accordance with the techniques herein, the access terminal 120 may be required to perform a ramp-up procedure according to the duration of the preceding inactive period 306 of the DTX communication pattern 300. In particular, the access terminal 120 ramps up more quickly over a relatively short inactivity period 306 (e.g., by monitoring the demodulation reference signal (DRS) in the preceding inactivity period 306 and using it for channel estimation). The operating system and environment are likely to have changed very little (compared to other periods of inactivity). For example, if the duration of the preceding inactive period 306 is less than a threshold (e.g., on the order of tens of milliseconds, such as 10 ms or 20 ms), the access terminal 120 (e.g., uses a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH)). It can be expected to be ready in a relatively short amount of time (for example, on the order of 2 ms).

  FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method of communication in accordance with the techniques described above. Method 900 may be performed, for example, by an access point (eg, access point 110 shown in FIG. 1) operating on a shared communication medium. By way of example, a communication medium may include one or more time, frequency, or spatial resources on an unlicensed radio frequency band that is shared between LTE technology devices and Wi-Fi technology devices.

  As shown, the access point may cycle the operation of the first RAT between an active period of transmission and an inactive transmission period on a communication medium shared with the second RAT according to the DTX communication pattern. (Block 902). This cycling may be performed by a processor and memory, such as, for example, processing system 116 and memory component 118. The access point may select an identifier for association with the first RAT (block 904). This selection may be performed by a processor and memory, such as, for example, processing system 116 and memory component 118. The access point may then send a channel reservation message associated with the second RAT via the communication medium to reserve the communication medium for one of the active periods, the channel reservation message including an identifier ( Block 906). The transmission may be performed by a transceiver such as a secondary RAT transceiver 142, for example.

  As described in further detail above, the channel reservation message may include, for example, at least one of a CTS2S message, an RTS message, a CTS message, a PLCP header defined by a secondary RAT, or a combination thereof. The identifier may be, for example, a BSSID selected to indicate a first RAT operation, an RA selected to indicate a first RAT operation, a duration selected to indicate a first RAT operation. Range of values, duration threshold selected to indicate the first RAT operation, PHY header scrambled selected to indicate the first RAT operation, indicating the first RAT operation PHY header user identifier selected for, or a combination thereof.

  The identifier may be coordinated between at least two access points. As an example, the identifier may be determined from an access point, backhaul signaling, from an operator identifier, or a combination thereof.

  At some point, the access point receives the second channel reservation message, identifies the second channel reservation message as including an identifier, and based on the identification, (i) one or more medium access controls The second channel reservation message may be excluded from the calculation, (ii) one or more network allocation vector (NAV) settings associated with the second RAT, or (iii) a combination thereof.

  FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating another exemplary method of communication in accordance with the techniques described above. Method 1000 may be performed, for example, by an access point (eg, access point 110 shown in FIG. 1) operating on a shared communication medium. By way of example, a communication medium may include one or more time, frequency, or spatial resources on an unlicensed radio frequency band that is shared between LTE technology devices and Wi-Fi technology devices.

  As shown, the access point may cycle the operation of the first RAT between active and inactive periods of transmission on a communication medium shared with the second RAT according to the DTX communication pattern (block 1002). This cycling may be performed by a processor and memory, such as, for example, processing system 116 and memory component 118. The access point may monitor the communication medium during at least a portion of the guard period prior to the target active period of the DTX communication pattern (block 1004). This monitoring may be performed by a processor and memory such as, for example, processing system 116 and memory component 118. The access point may then send a channel reservation message associated with the second RAT via the communication medium during the guard period to reserve the communication medium over the target active period based on the monitoring (block 1006). . This transmission may be performed by a transceiver, such as, for example, a secondary RAT transceiver 142.

  As described in more detail above, the channel reservation message can be, for example, a CTS2S message defined by a secondary RAT, an RTS message defined by a secondary RAT, a CTS message defined by a secondary RAT, or a secondary RAT. May include at least one of the PLCP headers defined by or a combination thereof.

  In some cases, the access point may retransmit a channel reservation message during the guard period if the channel reservation fails. The access point also determines that prior to the guard period, the communication medium is occupied by secondary RAT traffic at the start of the guard period, and a channel reservation message for transmission at a later time within the guard period after the start. Can be queued.

  In some designs, the access point has at least one of a reservation success rate statistic, a historical packet characteristic related to secondary RAT traffic, a broadcast packet characteristic related to secondary RAT traffic, or a combination thereof. Based on, the duration of the guard period can be adapted. As an example, the duration of the guard period may be adapted based on a reservation success rate statistic and a target success rate threshold. As another example, the duration of the guard period may be adapted based on an observation or broadcast TxOP size associated with the second RAT traffic.

  FIG. 11 is a flow diagram illustrating another exemplary method of communication in accordance with the techniques described above. Method 1100 may be implemented, for example, by an access point (eg, access point 110 shown in FIG. 1) operating on a shared communication medium. By way of example, a communication medium may include one or more time, frequency, or spatial resources on an unlicensed radio frequency band that is shared between LTE technology devices and Wi-Fi technology devices.

  As shown, the access point may cycle the operation of the first RAT between an active period of transmission and an inactive transmission period on a communication medium shared with the second RAT according to the DTX communication pattern. (Block 1102). This cycling may be performed by a processor and memory, such as, for example, processing system 116 and memory component 118. The access point may monitor the communication medium for the first RAT signaling and the second RAT signaling prior to the target active period of the DTX communication pattern (block 1104). This monitoring may be performed by a processor and memory such as, for example, processing system 116 and memory component 118. The access point may then start a target active period of the DTX communication pattern based on its monitoring at a fluid time following the preceding inactive period of the DTX communication pattern (block 1106). This initiation may be performed by a processor and memory such as, for example, processing system 116 and memory component 118.

  As an example, monitoring (block 1104) may include measuring signaling energy on the communication medium, and initiation (block 1106) may be preceded by a non-leading response in response to the signaling energy exceeding a threshold. Delaying the target active period relative to the active period may be included. As another example, the monitoring (block 1104) may include decoding the first RAT signaling, the second RAT signaling, or both, and the start (block 1106) may indicate that the decoded signaling is channel reserved. In response to indicating the target active period may include delaying the target active period relative to the preceding inactive period.

  In some designs, the access point may send a channel reservation message associated with the second RAT over the communication medium to reserve the communication medium over a target active period based on a trigger condition. As described in more detail above, the channel reservation message can be, for example, a CTS2S message defined by a secondary RAT, an RTS message defined by a secondary RAT, a CTS message defined by a secondary RAT, or a secondary RAT. May include at least one of the PLCP headers defined by or a combination thereof. The trigger condition may include, for example, a decrease in first RAT signaling, a decrease in second RAT signaling, detection of one or more hidden second RAT nodes, or a combination thereof.

  For convenience, the access point 110 and the access terminal 120 are illustrated in FIG. 1 as including various components that may be configured according to various examples described herein. However, it will be appreciated that the illustrated blocks may be implemented in various ways. In some implementations, the components of FIG. 1 may include one or more circuits, such as, for example, one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors). Can be implemented. Here, each circuit may use and / or incorporate at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by circuitry that provides this functionality.

  12-14 provide an alternative view of an apparatus for implementing access point 110 and / or access terminal 120 represented as a series of interrelated functional modules.

  FIG. 12 shows an exemplary apparatus 1200 represented as a series of interrelated functional modules. The module for circulating 1202 may correspond at least in some aspects to, for example, a communication controller or components thereof (eg, communication controller 104, etc.) as described herein. A module for selecting 1204 may correspond at least in some aspects to, for example, a communication controller or components thereof (eg, communication controller 104, etc.) as described herein. A module for transmitting 1206 may correspond at least in some aspects to, for example, a communication device as described herein or a component thereof (eg, communication device 112, etc.).

  FIG. 13 shows another exemplary apparatus 1300 represented as a series of interrelated functional modules. The module 1302 for cycling may correspond at least in some aspects to, for example, a communication controller or components thereof (eg, the communication controller 104, etc.) as described herein. A module for monitoring 1304 may correspond at least in some aspects to, for example, a communication controller or components thereof (eg, communication controller 104, etc.) as described herein. A module for transmitting 1306 may correspond at least in some aspects to, for example, a communication device or components thereof (eg, communication device 112, etc.) as described herein.

  FIG. 14 shows another exemplary apparatus 1400 represented as a series of interrelated functional modules. The module for circulating 1402 may correspond at least in some aspects to, for example, a communication controller or components thereof (eg, communication controller 104, etc.) as described herein. The module for monitoring 1404 may correspond at least in some aspects to, for example, a communication controller or components thereof (eg, communication controller 104, etc.) as described herein. A module for starting 1406 may correspond at least in some aspects to, for example, a communication controller or components thereof (eg, communication controller 104, etc.) as described herein.

  The functionality of the modules of FIGS. 12-14 may be implemented in a variety of ways consistent with the teachings herein. In some designs, the functionality of these blocks may be implemented as a processing system that includes one or more processor components. In some designs, the functionality of these modules may be implemented using, for example, at least a portion of one or more integrated circuits (eg, ASICs). As discussed herein, an integrated circuit may include a processor, software, other related components, or some combination thereof. Thus, the functionality of different modules may be implemented, for example, as different subsets of an integrated circuit, may be implemented as different subsets of a set of software modules, or a combination thereof. It will also be appreciated that a given subset (eg, of an integrated circuit and / or set of software modules) may implement at least a portion of the functionality associated with more than one module.

  In addition, the components and functions represented by FIGS. 12-14, as well as other components and functions described herein, may be implemented using any suitable means. Such means may also be implemented, at least in part, using corresponding structures as taught herein. For example, the components described above in conjunction with the “modules for” of the components of FIGS. 12-14 may also correspond to “means for” of similarly designated functions. Thus, in some aspects, one or more of such means include one or more of a processor component, integrated circuit, or other suitable structure as taught herein. Can be implemented using.

  It should be understood that any reference to elements using the designations “first”, “second”, etc. herein generally does not limit the amount or order of those elements. . Rather, these instructions may be used herein as a convenient way of distinguishing between two or more elements or example elements. Thus, reference to a first element and a second element does not mean that only two elements are available there, or that the first element must precede the second element in some way. Also, unless otherwise specified, a set of elements may include one or more elements. Further, as used in this description or claims, “at least one of A, B, or C” or “one or more of A, B, or C” or “A, B, and C” A term in the form of “at least one of the group consisting of” means “A or B or C or any combination of these elements”. For example, the term can include A, or B, or C, or A and B, or A and C, or A and B and C, or 2A, 2B, or 2C.

  In view of the above description and description, the various exemplary logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein can be electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that can be implemented as: To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Those skilled in the art may implement the functions described above in a variety of ways for each specific application, but such implementation decisions should not be construed as causing deviations from the scope of this disclosure. Absent.

  Thus, for example, it will be appreciated that a device or any component of a device can be configured (or can be enabled or adapted) to provide the functions taught herein. This can be done, for example, by manufacturing (eg, creating) the device or component to provide a function, by programming the device or component to provide a function, or some other suitable implementation technique. Can be achieved through the use of. As an example, an integrated circuit can be made to provide the necessary functionality. As another example, an integrated circuit may be made to support the required functions and then configured to provide the required functions (eg, via programming). As yet another example, the processor circuit may execute code to provide the necessary functionality.

  Further, the methods, sequences, and / or algorithms described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented directly in hardware, in software modules executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. Software modules include random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), registers, hard disk, removable disk, It may reside on a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art, either temporary or non-transitory. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor (eg, cache memory).

  Thus, for example, it will also be appreciated that certain aspects of the present disclosure may include a temporary or non-transitory computer readable medium embodying a method for communication.

  While the above disclosure illustrates various exemplary embodiments, various changes and modifications may be made to the examples shown without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. Please keep in mind. It is not intended that the present disclosure be limited to the specifically illustrated examples. For example, unless otherwise stated, the functions, steps, and / or actions of a method claim in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure described herein need not be performed in a particular order. Furthermore, although some aspects may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated.

110 access point
112 Communication devices
114 Communication controller
116 treatment system
118 Memory components
120 access terminal
122 Communication device
124 Communication controller
126 treatment system
128 memory components
130 Wireless link
132 Communication media
140 Primary RAT transceiver
142 2nd order RAT transceiver
150 1st RAT transceiver
152 Secondary RAT transceiver
200 Primary RAT system
202 Competing RAT system
204 conflict nodes
300 communication pattern
304 active period
306 Inactive period
308 Transmit (TX) cycle (T _DTX )
410 Channel reservation message
410a RAT identifier
410b duration
410c Other parameters
608 guard period
708 Competition period
900 methods
1200 equipment
1202 Module for circulation
1204 module to choose
1206 Module for sending
1300 equipment
1302 Module for circulation
1304 Module for monitoring
1306 Module for sending
1400 equipment
1402 Module for circulation
1404 Module for monitoring
1406 Module to get you started

Claims (15)

A communication method,
Cycling the operation of the first RAT between active and inactive periods of transmission on a communication medium shared with a second radio access technology (RAT) according to a discontinuous transmission (DTX) communication pattern; ,
Selecting an identifier indicating a first RAT operation,
Wherein in order to reserve the communication medium over one of the first of said active period of RAT, through said communication medium, and transmitting a channel reservation message associated with the second RAT, The channel reservation message includes the identifier.   The channel reservation message is defined by the second RAT, the transmission ready (CTS2S) message defined by the second RAT, the transmission request (RTS) message defined by the second RAT, and the second RAT. The method of claim 1, comprising at least one of a transmission ready (CTS) message, a physical layer convergence protocol (PLCP) header defined by the second RAT, or a combination thereof.   The identifier includes a basic service set identifier (BSSID) selected to indicate a first RAT operation, a receiver address (RA) selected to indicate a first RAT operation, and a first RAT operation. A range of duration values selected to indicate the duration threshold selected to indicate the first RAT operation, the physical selected to indicate the first RAT operation (PHY 2. The method of claim 1, comprising: a header scrambled, a PHY header user identifier selected to indicate a first RAT operation, or a combination thereof.   The method of claim 1, wherein the identifier is coordinated between at least two access points. Determining the identifier from backhaul signaling;
5. The method of claim 4, further comprising determining the identifier from an operator identifier, or a combination thereof. Receiving a second channel reservation message;
Identifying the second channel reservation message as including the identifier;
Based on the identifying step, (i) one or more medium access control calculations, (ii) one or more network allocation vector (NAV) settings associated with the second RAT, or (iii) them 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: excluding the second channel reservation message from a combination of: Monitoring the communication medium for first RAT signaling and second RAT signaling prior to a target active period of the DTX communication pattern;
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: starting the target active period of the DTX communication pattern at a fluid time following a preceding inactive period of the DTX communication pattern based on the monitoring step. The monitoring includes measuring signaling energy on the communication medium;
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the initiating step includes delaying the target active period relative to the preceding inactive period in response to the signaling energy exceeding a threshold. The step of monitoring includes decoding the first RAT signaling, the second RAT signaling, or both;
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the initiating step includes delaying the target active period relative to the preceding inactive period in response to the decoded signaling indicating channel reservation. .   The transmitting step includes transmitting the channel reservation message associated with the second RAT via the communication medium to reserve the communication medium over the target active period based on a trigger condition. The method according to claim 7.   11. The method of claim 10, wherein the trigger condition comprises a decrease in first RAT signaling, a decrease in second RAT signaling, detection of one or more hidden second RAT nodes, or a combination thereof. .   The method of claim 1, wherein the communication medium includes one or more time, frequency, or spatial resources on an unlicensed radio frequency band. The communication medium includes one or more time, frequency, or spatial resources on an unlicensed radio frequency band;
The first RAT includes long term evolution (LTE) technology,
The method of claim 1, wherein the second RAT includes Wi-Fi technology. A communication device,
To cycle the operation of the first RAT between active and inactive periods of transmission on a communication medium shared with a second radio access technology (RAT) according to a discontinuous transmission (DTX) communication pattern Means,
Means for selecting an identifier indicating a first RAT operation,
To reserve the communication medium over one of the active period of the first RAT, through the communication medium, there by a means for sending a channel reservation message associated with the second RAT The channel reservation message includes the identifier. A computer-readable recording medium recording a computer-executable instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by a computer, causes the execution of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, the computer-readable recording medium.

Images